Dreams and Enchantments
by reaper with no name
Summary: Raven and Beast Boy are in love. But is it real?
1. Tea

Their lips were locked together. He had her pinned against the wall. Her leg was hooked around his, and her arms were wrapped around his neck, preventing him from pulling away. But eventually, her need for air forced her to let him go. She gasped for air as her went for her neck.

"Uhnn…Beast Boy…"

"Hm?" he murmured.

And then it was over. She awoke to discover that he was nowhere to be found. She wiped the sweat from her forehead as she reminded herself that it had just been a dream. A really good dream, but a dream nonetheless. He didn't love her. He COULDN'T love her. Peeling off the sweaty covers, she made her way over to the thermostat. It was broken. No surprise there. Her powers had been acting up ever since she began having those dreams.

In short, it was just another ordinary day. And like any ordinary day, the first order of business was to hop in the shower. The second order of business was to make sure her thoughts remained clean during it. After all, the first of those dreams had been set in the shower.

Finishing her shower, she got changed and made her way to the common room. She needed to calm her nerves. Maybe some tea would help. But to her surprise, there was already a cup of it waiting for her. And sitting next to it with bloodshot eyes was an attractive young man.

"Beast Boy, what are you doing up so early?"

"I…Uh…Made you some tea."

"I noticed. But you haven't answered my question."

"I…Felt like making you some tea. That's all. I made it the way you like it and everything. And I didn't put hot sauce in it this time, either," he nodded proudly, pleased at such a small achievement. It was very endearing. He could be so childish sometimes. And yet, against all reason, it was amusing. He wasn't as dumb as he appeared. He chose to be this way because he wanted to and knew the results would be entertaining. It was a far cry from her, who was the way she was because she felt she had to be.

She hadn't realized she'd become lost in her own thoughts until she was shaken out of them by the sound of Beast Boy's face smacking against the table. He immediately woke up, rubbing his sore nose.

"Ow…That's gonna hurt in the morning."

Raven rolled her eyes. "Beast Boy, it is the morning."

"Exactly. And it hurts. See?"

He had a point. She stifled a small laugh. There was no way she could let him see her laugh. She had a reputation to maintain.

"So…Uh…Are you gonna drink your tea or wha-?!" As Beast Boy looked to the teacup, he discovered to his horror that it had been tipped over when he had fallen asleep. And now its contents were spread out all over the table.

"Oh, man! Robin's gonna kill me!" In a panic, he ran off to get some paper towels, forgetting about the napkins that were right there on the table already. By the time Beast Boy returned, the mess had already been cleaned.

"Huh? How'd you-" His eyes fell onto the napkins. "…Oh. Heh heh, sorry about that. Oh, wait! Gimme a sec! I'll be right back!"

Beast Boy ran off again, and a few moments later, returned with a teapot. "Good thing I made extra, huh?"

Raven nodded as Beast Boy poured her a new cup. She sipped it slowly, noting that Beast Boy seemed anxious about something. He was probably afraid that he had made it wrong. "It's fine, Beast Boy," she assured him.

"Oh, thanks," he replied absent-mindedly. It seemed that his mind was focused elsewhere.

"Beast Boy?"

"Yeah?" he responded enthusiastically. Perhaps a little bit too enthusiastically.

"Get some sleep. You look exhausted."

"Oh…Ok," he seemed disappointed. Nevertheless, he left her to her tea. This was unfortunate, because the moment he left, the tea became much more bitter.


	2. Spells

The rest of the day was equally unusual. Raven had hoped that Beast Boy's anxiety was the result of fatigue, but it remained even after he woke up four hours later. She could feel his eyes on her even when she wasn't looking. And boy, did she spend a lot of time looking. She couldn't help it. Denying that she loved him was pointless. It was hard enough resisting the urge to just kiss him senseless. But resist she did.

Afternoon turned to night, and the Titans had only one call. It was some punks robbing a grocery store. A grocery store, of all things! Nevertheless, one of them got lucky with his pistol and managed to hit her in the foot. It was her own fault, really. She had neglected to extend her shield enough to cover it. No matter. It was nothing she couldn't heal with her powers. And she was in her room doing just that when there was a knock at her door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me," Beast Boy's unique voice made identifying himself unnecessary.

"Are you alone?" She wasn't sure why she asked that, but she couldn't take it back now.

"Yeah"

Rather than going physically to the door and opening it, she used her powers to grant him entry.

"Come in," she ordered. He did as he was told and took a seat next to her on the bed. If it were anyone else, she would have considered that to be crossing a line, but with him she didn't mind. Or rather, perhaps it was a line she WANTED him to cross.

"So…You're gonna be okay, right?" Beast Boy asked, trying and failing to hide the concern in his voice.

"It was just a bullet in my foot, Beast Boy. I've survived worse."

"Well, yeah, but if that same bullet…"

"Beast Boy, that's never going to happen. I'd never let my guard down that much in a fight."

"I know, I know. I just worry about you, Raven, you know? I just…I don't know what I'd do if I ever lost you."

"You'd move on, Beast Boy."

"I don't think so, Raven. Terra, I could get over. But I don't think I'd be able to make it through life without you. Nor would I want to."

"Beast Boy, what does Terra have to do with this?"

"…Honestly? Nothing. I shouldn't have even brought her up. I mean, I liked her and all, but that was nothing compared to what I…"

Raven's breath caught in her throat. Was he saying what she thought he was saying?

"Beast Boy…What are you trying to say?"

He took her hand. "Raven, what I'm trying to say is…"

This was too good to be true. All of her dreams were about to come true. She just hoped her powers didn't destroy anything.

And then a horrifying thought struck her.

"Wait. Don't."

The combination of confusion and heartbreak on his face was impossible to miss. Tears began forming in her eyes as she continued.

"I know what you're about to say. And I do love you. But you don't. Beast Boy, it's not real."

"What? Raven, how can you say-"

She silenced him by placing a finger on his lips. "My powers come from my emotions. When I suppress them too much and don't release the pressure, they find other ways out. Like when I was afraid. Beast Boy, you think you're in love with me, but you're not. It's my powers. They're making you love me."

"Raven…"

She hoped he would listen to reason. She hoped that the spell he was under wasn't too strong.

No such luck. He was kissing her now. And it felt so GOOD. Maybe she could let this go on for just a little bit longer. One kiss couldn't hurt, right? Her arms found their way around his neck…

No. How could she even think this?! This was Beast Boy! How dare she even CONSIDER taking advantage of him like this?!

She sprang away from him like an electromagnet whose polarity had just been switched. "Beast Boy, we can't do this."

"Why not?!" he yelled. "Even if it was just your powers, which it is SO not, why can't we do this?"

The tears were falling from her face freely now, and her voice threatened to crack at any time. "Because it's not real," she half-whispered. She slowly reached out a hand and caressed his cheek. "I'm so sorry, Beast Boy. I love you, but you deserve better. And you will find better. Someone you can really love. I just hope you can forgive me."

"Raven, there's nothing to-" And suddenly he fell asleep, flopping down onto the bed. He would be out for hours.

Raven gently brushed some hair away from his face as she gathered her willpower for what she had to do next. She didn't want to do this, but deep down she knew it was for the best. "Azarath…Metrion…" she took one last longing look at his closed eyes. "Zinthos."

It was done. He probably wouldn't remember a thing. And if he did, he would think it had all been a dream. She teleported him to his room and placed him carefully onto his bed with her powers. Then she returned to her own room and collapsed onto the bed, finally giving in to her body's command to begin sobbing uncontrollably. As she cried herself to sleep, the knowledge that she had done the right thing wasn't very comforting.


	3. Wards

The next day, Raven refused to leave her room. She just couldn't risk it. She didn't deserve it. She was just thankful that she still had some of those cookies that Beast Boy had given her for Christmas. Otherwise hunger would have probably made her lose her nerve. But every cookie she ate only made her feel worse.

The day wore on, and she ignored all attempts by the others to bring her out of her room. The only person who hadn't visited her yet was Beast Boy, and she was thankful for that. As much as she wanted to see him, she was also afraid to.

As if in reply to her internal struggle, there was a visitor knocking at her door. She wasn't surprised when it turned out to be Beast Boy.

"Raven, what's wrong? You haven't been out of your room all day? You have to eat, you know!" When she didn't respond, he continued. "Tell you what, come out and I'll make your favorite!"

A pause. Then: "Umm…What is your favorite, anyway?"

She sighed. He really wasn't going to go away until she had at least acknowledged his presence.

"Beast Boy, not now, please. Just…Leave me alone."

"Rae, I'm worried about you! What's gotten into you?" If he remembered anything about last night, he didn't show it. Maybe the whole thing was over. Maybe she could see him again…

She opened the door, and there he stood. "Look, Raven, if you really don't want to leave your room, then that's up to you. But I really need to tell you something."

She knew where this was going. She pressed the button to close the door, but his foot was already in the way, preventing it from doing so.

"Raven, this is important. Please?"

She sighed again. If she didn't let him in now, he'd get suspicious. She led him inside and sat him down. "What did you need to tell me?"

"I had a weird dream last night."

Ten minutes later, the story was over. She was surprised at how much he had retained. The spell to make him forget hadn't done much of anything.

"Why are you telling me this?" Raven asked when he was done, knowing full well the answer he was going to give.

"Because, Raven, I love you."

Her bookcase fell over. Even though she knew it was coming, she was still unprepared for it. Not able to bear sitting any longer, she stood up and paced, trying to find the words to get herself out of this situation.

"Raven…" he continued. "You don't have to worry. I wouldn't expect you to fake something for me. I just…" his voice became low. "I just wanted you to know."

He stood up to leave and began walking past her toward the door. She should have let him leave. She should have let him move on. There were many things she should have done. Grabbing his hand and stopping him was not one of them.

"Beast Boy, wait."

"Lemme guess, you don't want me, but you don't want to lose our friendship?"

"I didn't say that, Beast Boy."

"So you DO want to lose our friendship?" he asked in shock.

"No! NO! That's the last thing I would ever want, Beast Boy…"

"Then…It's just like the dream…Isn't it?"

"…Yes..." Raven confirmed sadly, her eyes sinking to the floor. "Except…It wasn't a dream. I tried to make you forget. I failed. I'm s-"

His voice lit up. "Raven, this is great!"

Her eyes snapped back to his in confusion, but they weren't where they used to be. Instead, they were right in front of her face. His lips were inches from hers.

"Because you put all those anti-charm wards around the tower way back when we beat that Mother Mae Eye character, remember?"

Her eyes went wide. Of course! How could she have forgotten those? As long as they were active, no enchantment magic could affect anyone in the tower. Raven gasped.

"…It's…Real…"

"Yup," he grinned as he took her hands in his. So, what do you want to do now?"

"I think you know," she stated. "Now stop standing there and kiss me."

He did. She had been leaning against the wall when this started, and now she was pinned against it. Much like that dream she had, actually. The thought of it made her smile. It was no longer a dream. Now, it was reality.

Her hands eagerly explored the muscles of his chest as his tongue explored her mouth. She didn't have another coherent thought until they were halfway to the bed, a trail of clothing left in their wake…

* * *

She didn't have a clue what time it was as she lied naked in bed with Beast Boy, nestled in his arms. Nor was she interested in leaving his embrace to find out. Deciding to compromise in the hopes of getting the best of both worlds, she twisted around and tried to look over Beast Boy's shoulder. No luck. The alarm clock, along with most of the electronics in the room, was nothing but shrapnel now. Oh well, it could have been much worse. She'd have to put some stronger wards on her room.

And speaking of wards…

Her eyes fell back on the sleeping changeling. It was all thanks to his recollection of her creating those wards that they could be together and know it was real. It was certainly an impressive feat for someone like Beast Boy, considering how long ago that had been. What was it, two years? Three?

Of course, wards didn't last forever, so just to be safe, she'd have to occasionally reinforce them. Otherwise, they'd decay within a year. When was the last time she had done it, anyway? She turned back around and tried to remember.

And then her heart sank.

She had never done it. Not even once.

Her eyes went wide at the realization. It wasn't real. It WAS just her powers. How else could he have remembered such an obscure detail that would miraculously allow the two of them to be together? That night had gone almost exactly like the dream she'd had the other night. Coincidence? No, she didn't believe in coincidences. Not when there were more compelling arguments right in front of her.

How could she have missed it? How could she have let herself think for even a moment that he could love her? And now…Now…She had taken something from him that she could never give back.

She unconsciously curled up into a ball as she began to cry. As if in response, Beast Boy's embrace became tighter. That only made her feel worse.

She couldn't take this. What she had done was unforgivable. The only thing she could do now was prevent further damage.

She sat straight up in bed, not caring if Beast Boy awoke. He stirred, and his eyelids fluttered open.

Noticing the tears streaming down her face, he raised a gentle hand to her face and delicately wiped them away. "Raven, what's wrong?"

She gently touched the hand cupping her cheek. He wasn't making this any easier.

"Beast Boy…" she choked out. "…Those wards…Decayed over a year ago…I'm sorry…"

"Raven, wai-" was all he managed before she cast the sleep spell. She didn't expect a memory spell to work, but she cast that as well anyway. She had no expression as she focused on the scattered clothing around the room belonging to Beast Boy. Within minutes they and their owner had been returned to their proper room, and Raven was alone in hers. Just as she had always been.


	4. Theory

Raven awoke from the nightmare with a start. She could still feel the crushing shame and overwhelming guilt. Good thing it had only been a…

One look at the familiar carnage around her room assured her that this had been no dream. It was real. It made her feel sick to her stomach. If she had eaten anything recently, she would have thrown it up right then and there. But this was no time to think about food. Not now. Not after what she had done.

Her gaze rested on a single green sock in a corner of the room. She must have missed it when she was teleporting everything to Beast Boy's room. In a way, it symbolized this entire fiasco. She tried to fix everything and do the right thing, but she always forgot something. And that something would always come back to haunt her.

The tears were coming again. She thought she'd run out of them after crying herself to sleep again, but apparently she still had some to spare.

How pathetic. Even her tears reminded her of what she had done. And every reminder reinforced her pain. It was a vicious cycle, second in cruelty only to the very sin she had committed.

She couldn't deal with this. She had to get out. She needed to go somewhere far away, where there would be nothing to remind her of what had transpired here these last few days. That would probably be best for Beast Boy, too.

Yes, she would run away. That was the only way to ensure that she never hurt Beast Boy again.

After getting dressed, she threw open her closet door and dug through the assorted junk until she found it. Her suitcase. The very same one she had moved into the tower with. How fitting that it should be the one with which she leaves.

She inspected it for damage. She could find none. Perfect. It was the first and only thing that had gone right so far. She began loading it with whatever clothing and possessions she deemed essential. When she was done she closed it and headed for the door.

However, upon hitting the button to open the door, she was met with a surprise. None other than Beast Boy was standing on the other side, his hand raised as if he had been about to knock. Her visitor took one look at the suitcase in her hand and panicked, grabbing her hands and pushing her against the wall. In her surprise, Raven dropped the suitcase.

"Raven, we need to talk," Beast Boy stated forcibly. "And no Men in Blue stuff this time. You are going to listen to me. Understood?"

Raven nodded, more out of shock at the display of dominance than anything else.

"Good." His expression softened, his usual charm shining through again. "Now, if you had let me finish speaking last night, I would have told you that enchantment magic doesn't work on me."

"Beast Boy…" Raven pleaded. "Please, don't make this any more difficult than it has to be."

"Raven, you're the one making it difficult," he said, never taking his eyes off hers. "Enchantment and mind control work by manipulating the brain, right?"

Raven nodded slowly, not understanding where he was going with that query.

"Well, my brain isn't normal," Beast Boy said proudly. "it works differently from everyone else's. Cy explained it to me once, but I didn't really get it."

"Beast Boy…"

"So, behold, exhibit A!" Beast Boy cut her off and produced a tape recorder from one of his pockets. Pushing the button, he grinned proudly as Cyborg's voice filled the air.

"Well, mind control, no matter how it's done, is based on stimulating certain parts of the brain to provoke a predictable reaction. So it's not really so much mind control as mind manipulation. Kind of like how I always trick you into attacking my secret base from the back on the gamestation. I know that if I cloak all the units there, you'll think it's undefended and attack."

"So THAT'S how you always beat me! Dude, that is SO not fair!"

"Sorry man, but all's fair in dating sims and war games. You know that. Anyway, your brain's really weird. Usually, there's a few distinct parts, each one responsible for something. Like the amygdala here has to do with impulsive behavior. If you had one, it'd be on constant overdrive. But you don't. Or a frontal lobe, which explains a lot, since that's the logic center…"

"Hey!"

"Couldn't resist. Anyway, your brain doesn't have any specialized regions at all. When you think something, your whole brain becomes active, no matter what it is. So there's no way someone could just stimulate one part of it and make you do something."

"So…Why am I like this, again?"

"My guess is that it's because of the transformations. Every type of animal has a different kind of brain that works in a different way. In order for your brain to be compatible when you change, I guess it has to be really undifferentiated and have a uniform structure."

"Oh. Thanks, Cy."

"I'll bet you didn't understand a word I said, did you?"

"Nope. But I got it on tape. Thanks again!"

The tape ended.

"So, do you get it now, Raven? Or do I have to play Robin's explanation, too?" Beast Boy threatened.

"Beast Boy, you know that can't be true. You've been hypnotized-"

"Hypnosis is different. It's psychosogical. This is physical stuff we're talking about."

"Beast Boy, it's 'psychological'."

"Quit changing the subject!" Beast Boy became frustrated. "Raven, why is it so hard for you to believe that I love you?! Don't you love me?"

Raven bit her lip. "I do, Beast Boy. But, there's no way you could love me. It's just not…Possible. I'm not…Capable of being loved that way."

His eyes softened. "Come on, you don't really believe that, do you?"

"I don't know. But I know what's going on here, and if I stay I'm just going to hurt you more."

"Well, then…" His lips broke into a mischievous grin."If you really think that I'm not immune to charm magic, then you wouldn't object to a little test, would you?"


	5. Test

"What?"

"Go inside my head. Try to manipulate me. Make me angry, or scared, or not in love with you. Go ahead, try it." He moved closer to her until their faces were mere inches apart. "If you can do it, then I'll let you go, and never bother you about this again. But if you can't, then it'll prove once and for all that this is real, and I'll follow you to the ends of the earth if I have to."

"Was he serious? Would he really leave her alone if she succeeded? Probably not. He was most likely just trying that to try and convince her. But while he hadn't succeeded in doing that, he had managed to plant the seed of doubt in her. And she couldn't have that. No, she would prove beyond all doubt that this was just a product of her powers going haywire. To both herself and to him.

She stared into his eyes. "Azarath Metrion Zinthos."

With those words her soul self separated from her body and entered Beast Boy's. She waited for the images from his eyes to enter her mind. They didn't.

Were his eyes closed? No, she could vaguely see from her own eyes that his were still open. Moreover, as she focuses momentarily on her own body, she noticed that his eyes had not turned purple, which usually happened when her soul self entered a person. Could it be that…?

No. That alone proved nothing. It wasn't like she did this sort of thing on a daily basis. Perhaps she required a person's permission to be able to see through their eyes. Beast Boy's emotions; they were the key. If she could manipulate those, that would be the smoking gun. If she couldn't find them…Well, she wouldn't let herself think of that. She wouldn't be able to endure another episode of getting her hopes up only to have them dashed to bits.

Refocusing her attention on the mind her soul self was currently inhabiting, she searched for his emotions. Black spiritual arms reached out blindly against an equally black backdrop. She felt nothing. The dark tendrils of her soul self explored every corner of Beast Boy's psyche, but his emotions were nowhere to be found. Something was quickly rising up in her heart. A something called hope. In desperation, she reached out to all of Beast Boy's mind at once, trying to make him hate her, fear her, envy her, laugh at her, not want to be with her.

But from her own eyes, she could see that nothing had changed. He still stood there watching her with the same patient, confident, loving look as when she'd begun.

She had failed. And that could only mean one thing.

"…Beast Boy…" she whispered as her soul self returned.

"Well?" he asked expectantly, already knowing the results.

"Nothing…" Raven replied in shock. "There was nothing there. Nothing I could find. Nothing I could touch. Nothing I could manipulate."

Beast Boy chuckled. "Told you so."

"So…You do love me?"

"Jeez, do I have to spell it out for you, Rae? Yes, I love you."

With that, he brought his lips to hers and captured her in a kiss. And this time, she was able to let go and kiss him without fear of repercussions. Well, other than the usual exploding objects (in this case the forgotten suitcase and tape recorder on the floor). The wards on her room must have been getting weak. But that was a problem for another time. For now, she just focused on the sweet sensation of his lips against hers.

But as Beast Boy pulled away for air, a question arose in Raven's mind.

"Wait," she said. "I understand why the memory spell didn't work, but how did you know it wasn't all a dream?"

He smiled. "Well, I don't usually sleep naked, so that was a big tipoff. But what really convinced me was this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of black fabric. As he let it fall open, raven recognized it as the lace bra she had been wearing last night, before…

She blushed, and Beast Boy's grin grew wider. "Found it under my shirt. You should really check to make sure you're only teleporting what you want to."

"Raven, why is Beast Boy holding the bra you bought when we went to the mall of shopping last week?"

Both Raven and Beast Boy simultaneously looked towards the source of the voice and did a double take. It was Starfire, standing in the doorway. They had forgotten that the door was still open.

"What is going on? Beast Boy, why are you in Raven's room? And Raven, why is your room in such disarray?" Starfire asked, puzzled.

The couple looked like children that had been caught red-handed stealing from the cookie jar. They looked to one another with a deep blush on their faces, hoping an explanation would magically reveal itself. When none did, they nodded to one another, silently agreeing on a course of action.

"Not now, Starfire!" Beast Boy barked.

"We're busy!" Raven added, as she used her powers to lightly push her out the door and shut it.

The two ignored Starfire's further queries and returned to kissing one another madly.

"It won't be long before she puts two and two together," Raven breathed.

"Let her."

Another minute passed, and Starfire left. An amusing thought occurred to Raven.

"Is this going to become a habit?"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"You, pinning me to the wall and kissing me."

"Only if you want it to be."

Raven smiled. "I do. It's just like my dreams."


End file.
